Talk heats up that Matt Kalil could slide

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 22, 2012, 11:43 AM EDT

AP

USC left tackle Matt Kalil has been tied to the Vikings with the third pick in the NFL draft for so long that hardly anyone has even stopped to think about where Kalil might go if the Vikings don’t draft him. But as we enter draft week, there’s increasing talk that the Vikings could pass on Kalil — and Kalil could side after that.

We noted last week that the Vikings have interest in not just Kalil but also Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon and LSU’s Morris Claiborne, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on SportsCenter this morning that the interest from the Vikings in all three of those players is very real. The word out of Minnesota is that the Vikings have not decided to take Kalil, contrary to what has been believed.

So if the Vikings were to pass on Kalil, where would he end up? As Schefter noted, he could slide a few picks, as the next teams on the board — Browns at No. 4, Buccaneers at No. 5, Rams at No. 6 and Jaguars at No. 7 — all could conceivably pass on the draft’s top tackle.

Then there’s the assessment from Greg Cosell of NFL Films, who writes that in his own mock draft, not only does Kalil not go at No. 3 to the Vikings, but Kalil doesn’t even go in the Top 10. Cosell isn’t necessarily down on Kalil — he calls Kalil the top tackle in the draft — but he doesn’t think Kalil’s talents and any team’s needs align until at least 10 picks are off the board.

It’s still entirely possible, maybe even probable, that Kalil will go third overall to the Vikings. But after months of mock drafts listing Kalil as the third player off the board, that doesn’t seem like such a sure thing.

Welcome to the final few days before the draft. This is the time smoke screens started getting thrown about and a players negatives are written about more than their positives.

I’ve been getting blasted by some Vikings fans for saying if I were them, I’d take Claiborne over Kallil. I still stick by my guns. The reasons are two fold. Kalill Is not in the same category of LT as Jake Long and Joe Thomas. Just because you’re the best in a particular class, it doesn’t mean you’re the best compared to others.

The second and most important is the division they play in. A team should be built to win their division. A Div winning team gets to the playoffs and gets at least one home game regardless of record. Once the playoffs begin,anything can happen. You can make a good argument the Giants were the 4th best team in the NFC last year,but still won the title.

The Vikes play Aaron Rogers,Matt Stafford,and Jake Cutler twice a year. They also face Megatron,Jordy Nelson,Gregg Jennings and Now Brandon Marshall twice a year. If you lack a shutdown Cb type,good luck trying to slow those teams down.

I know the Vikes like to play a soft zone,but that can be worked around. Just put Claiborne on the opponents best receiver and force someone else to beat you. Imo, Claiborne will give the team that drafts him the same effect as Revis gives the jets.

All I can say is that if Kalil slides to Buffalo at #10 I will be running around my draft party naked, and TRUST ME nobody wants to see me do that. Unfortunately, unless the Bills trade up this has no chance of happening. No matter what BS the teams are putting out there the week before the draft.

2. Minnesota can have anyone they want outside of Luck and RG3. They don’t need to smokescreen.

mianfr says:Apr 22, 2012 12:19 PM

Anyone who’s seen an MRI of Christian Ponder’s shoulder knows this is a smoke screen.

wrossi81 says:Apr 22, 2012 12:23 PM

Yeah, not going to happen. After Luck and RG3 are picked he’ll be the best player on almost every team’s draft board, and if nobody’s keen to pick him in those early slots then they’ll probably look for a trade.

Cosell didn’t do his mock draft based on team needs at all. His mock draft is based entirely on what he saw on film and slotted players based on how he evaluated them. He actually believes that Kalil is not a top 10 talent. Still the best tackle, just not top 10 overall.

kingfish4242 says:Apr 22, 2012 12:26 PM

coseybedaman says:
Apr 22, 2012 12:10 PM
All I can say is that if Kalil slides to Buffalo at #10 I will be running around my draft party naked, and TRUST ME nobody wants to see me do that. Unfortunately, unless the Bills trade up this has no chance of happening. No matter what BS the teams are putting out there the week before the draft.

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Agreed here, if he does slip by the Vikes, Tampa will set a land speed record rushing to the podium with his name on their slip. New coach Gregg Schiano loves to run the ball and teaming Kalill with FA Carl Nicks would give the Bucs a pretty stout left side of the O- Line.

kingfish4242 says:Apr 22, 2012 12:31 PM

tommyf15 says:
Apr 22, 2012 12:17 PM
For everyone saying that this is a smoke screen-

1. Greg Cossell doesn’t work for the Vikings or any NFL team!

2. Minnesota can have anyone they want outside of Luck and RG3. They don’t need to smokescreen.

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All teams “smokescreen” It’s always been a part of the draft process. The Vikes might be throwing a smokescreen trying to entice another team to trade up to their slot for a boatload of later picks.

At some point in him sliding I would think the Bills would look to trade up to get him. They need a LT badly. Jags at seven seems like a good spot.

noozehound says:Apr 22, 2012 12:32 PM

the only people talking about this is Schefter, who is trying to be relevant because nobody cares what he has to say. It’s all Mayok and Kiper. Nobody cares about Adam Schefter. And Greg Cosell? Who? exactly…

Vikings are nuts not to take him. He’s the safest pick on the board.
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Do you know that Kalil is the safest pick in the draft because of all of the time you have spent watching him play and breaking down his film, or do you say that because you have heard the draft “experts” say that? The only reason I ask is that a lot of those draft “experts” make mistakes all of the time. All you have to do is go back to last season and look at what some of these guys were saying about Cam Newton. Many of them thought he would bomb in the NFL and look at what he did last year. Truthfully, I cannot say one way or another that Kalil is a safer pick than Claiborn or Blackmon. Like Kalil, they also play positions which are just as big of needs for the Vikings. And like LT, those positions can be just as hard to fill with a big-time player. I guess I can understand where the Vikings are coming from and can only hope that they make the right decision for that high of a pick. Safe picks are nice, but it is also nice to pick a player who can be a home run hitter on offens or a game breaker on defense.

I’m not a Vikes fan in the slightest but your rational regarding the #3 pick is spot on.

The ideal situation is to trade back but looks like that’ll be unlikely.

My buddys from Minn and I remember telling him after Peterson went down that they needed to bench Harvin to ensure they lost out. That win vs washington cost them 2 first rounders and a high second that ironically would’ve come from washington

I wouldn’t mind the Browns grabbing him. Joe Thomas has been the only pick thats been working well for us and having Kalil on the other side of the line should let us know if Colt McCoy can get the job done and maybe save us a future high pick on a quarterback.

Maybe the Vikings will flub getting their pick in and let him slide to ten and then finally pick him at ten. Only the Vikes!

kingfish4242 says:Apr 22, 2012 12:52 PM

brownsalwaysrebuilding says:
Apr 22, 2012 12:42 PM
I wouldn’t mind the Browns grabbing him. Joe Thomas has been the only pick thats been working well for us and having Kalil on the other side of the line should let us know if Colt McCoy can get the job done and maybe save us a future high pick on a quarterback.

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The problem with this is again two fold. Kalill is a LT and won’t take the job away from Thomas. The second reason is a team can’t tie that much money up on the same position. If they do, they’ll lose another player in a need area to FA in a few years.

If Spielman wants to protect his investment in Ponder he will draft Kalil plain and simple. Ponder was running for his life last year and was injured because he was sacked so often. He rushed his throws to avoid being sacked and so his performance deteriorated. All this talk of teams not succeeding because they drafted LTs high is nonsense. Orlando Pace was a top pick and the Rams went to the SB. Same for Jonathan Ogden, Walter Jones, Keith Van Horne, and Levi Brown. The Vikings have signed 2 CBs and have Chris Cook back. They will probably sign Jerome Simpson and have signed John Carlson so they have shored up 2 weak areas. They need to now strengthen their offensive line where they have lost 3 starters since last year at this time.(McKinnie, Hutchinson and Hererra)

kingfish4242 says:Apr 22, 2012 1:15 PM

4thquartermagic says:
Apr 22, 2012 12:37 PM
@ kingfish4242

I’m not a Vikes fan in the slightest but your rational regarding the #3 pick is spot on.

The ideal situation is to trade back but looks like that’ll be unlikely.

My buddys from Minn and I remember telling him after Peterson went down that they needed to bench Harvin to ensure they lost out. That win vs washington cost them 2 first rounders and a high second that ironically would’ve come from washington

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I’m actually a Saints fan. I also got to see Claiborne play at LSU a lot. I also have a few friends with close personal ties to their coaching staff. The coaching staff won’t say it publicly,but in private they say Claiborne was a better player that Patrick Peterson who was selected 3rd overall by the Cardinals last year.

If you want to know how good Claiborne is,look no farther than last years BCS title game. Nick Saban knew he had to attack LSU through the air to have a chance to win that game. The Tigers defense basically shut down Rb Trent Richardson and the Tide lost the regular season match up on Nov. 5th.

Saban went after Heisman finalist Tyrann Mathieu in coverage. The Tide won,but Saban wanted no part of Mo Claiborne in that game. In fact, he never attempted one pass to the Wr covered by Claiborne.

I’m also not a LSU fan,but I think Claiborne is a special player you don’t see come along very often and he’s bound for stardom very soon.

purplepridehasadownside says:Apr 22, 2012 1:32 PM

I said it before, and I’ll say it again, the Purple are gonna screw up this draft…My words, mark ‘em.

mwcarolina says:Apr 22, 2012 1:37 PM

he’s going in the top 10 and the reason i say that is if the Vikings dont get him, the Browns, Rams, Jaguars, Panthers and Dolphins all will and should be interested. while yes, he’s a left tackle, he could likely play right and if the panthers got him, they could move Gross to right tackle and play Kalil at left and i think Ryan could also be a factor if he falls. now i personally see him being either a Viking or Ram.

draftdoctor says:
Apr 22, 2012 1:10 PM
All this talk of teams not succeeding because they drafted LTs high is nonsense. Orlando Pace was a top pick and the Rams went to the SB. Same for Jonathan Ogden, Walter Jones, Keith Van Horne, and Levi Brown.

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The Giants and Saints have won Super Bowls recently without a dominant LT. The Pack went 15-1 with Clifton out most of the year.

There really is no 100% right or wrong answer on these types of debates. As the old saying goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

In the simplest of terms, I’d still go with Claiborne because I think he’s a better Cb than Kalill is a LT. When a team is picking this high in the draft, it’s usually the best idea to take the best available player regardless of position. Drafting for need and passing on a better player often gets a team in trouble later.

There is no way Kalil slips past Tampa or Cleveland if the Vikings pass on him. If he is right and Kalil falls far, Buffalo is at #10 and there is no way Nix will let him pass by. Kalil is a pretty sure player who can step right in and play, his value is too high.

The Vikings also play Peppers, Mathews, Avil and Suh depending on where they line him up. If you can’t protect in pass your defense is going to be out there getting gassed and I don’t care who you have at CB it won’t make a difference in the end. Look at how the Raiders when they had the top CB for so many years. Teams just throw away from him.

Anyone who’s seen an MRI of Christian Ponder’s shoulder knows this is a smoke screen.

***

So you’re Ponder’s Orthopedist? On the Minnesota Vikings Medical staff? That’s so cool, Man. I wish I was as ‘hooked up’ as you. Or did Ponder go through TSA scanner and you work with TSA?

If I reverse your logic, I HAVE seen Ponder’s MRI, because I am certain this is all smokey. Misdirection. Watch this exact topic become headline news until 15 minutes before Minny takes Kalil. Or doesn’t. Or trades down a few picks and gets Kalil at 7 or whatever.

I don’t know. I haven’t seen Ponder’s MRI.

draftdoctor says:Apr 22, 2012 2:44 PM

Kingfish- Spielman was quoted as saying the Vikings had Kalil, Blackmon and Claiborne rated equally so there is no on BPA from his perspective. You may rate Claiborne higher but what Spielman thinks is all that matters. The logical choice is to pick Kalil for the reasons stated in my original post.

vikemike257 says:Apr 22, 2012 3:25 PM

When you run a cover 2 defense, your safeties are more important then your CBs. You do not draft a CB high, they need to take the LT or deal with David Carr 2.0, or get rid of that awful cover 2 defense

greymares says:Apr 22, 2012 3:28 PM

noozehound says:
Apr 22, 2012 12:32 PM
the only people talking about this is Schefter, who is trying to be relevant because nobody cares what he has to say. It’s all Mayok and Kiper. Nobody cares about Adam Schefter. And Greg Cosell? Who? exactly
———————————————you can like Kiper and Mayock all you want but when it comes to evaluating talent I’ll take Cosell

chiefsfaninpa says:Apr 22, 2012 4:01 PM

I don’t know if Kalil will be drafted by the Vikings or not but if he does, I doubt he drops any farther than 10 overall.

kingfish4242 says:Apr 22, 2012 4:12 PM

draftdoctor says:
Apr 22, 2012 2:44 PM
Kingfish- Spielman was quoted as saying the Vikings had Kalil, Blackmon and Claiborne rated equally so there is no on BPA from his perspective. You may rate Claiborne higher but what Spielman thinks is all that matters. The logical choice is to pick Kalil for the reasons stated in my original post.

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Absolutely, Don’t take what I say to mean I think you’re wrong. We just respectfully disagree. I’ll just add one more thing. This league’s rules are so tilted in the favor of the offense now, the scoring has been arena league style. 10 years+ ago I would have said taking a LT over a Cb is a no brainer too. Now it’s a little different. I just believe it’s better to draft people that can score or those who can directly prevent them.

The Vikings also play Peppers, Mathews, Avil and Suh depending on where they line him up. If you can’t protect in pass your defense is going to be out there getting gassed and I don’t care who you have at CB it won’t make a difference in the end. Look at how the Raiders when they had the top CB for so many years. Teams just throw away from him.

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Another opposing viewpoint I respect. You also make very good points. To this I’ll just add you can’t fix all the holes in a single draft and FA signing period. You mentioned the Raiders with Nnamdi Asomugha. Opponents did throw away from him,but at the same time, you could say he took half the field away. Imo, Claiborne will do the same.

If the Eagle fan is still following this topic, I’d like to ask this. Why in the world did they sign
Asomugha and put him in zone? Tell Castillo I said put that man in Man to man where he belongs

packerswambulance says:Apr 22, 2012 4:55 PM

I agree with Kingfish. At #3 I would want to be drafting the best player on the field. Having an elite LT would be a luxury for the Vikings. Having a possible elite WR like Blackmon thats scoring the points that wins games to me, is a better option. Or dropping 2-3 slots and still getting Kalil, Blackmon, or Claibourne.
Not letting Bryant McKinnie eat his way to getting cut may have been a good ounce of prevention.

This is non-sense. If you can’t smell smoke from a smokescreen or just don’t know any better please don’t waste your time posting this crap and get a new job. If Kallil drops past three there will be a host of calls to get him way before he drops out of the top 10 and as previous knowledgeable bloggers have noted, the Bills will certainly take him AT #10.

“Eagles love Off. linemen. of his caliber. If he were to drop to far, The Eagles might actually trade up to take him. Say he falls to 10 or? The Birds are at 15.. Betcha Reid is licking his lips!!!!!”

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When Donte Whitner was drafted by the Bills at 8, which was a reach and they knew it, they talked about taking the player that they wanted over the benefits of trading down and accumulating more picks. They were offered either the 13th or the 15th pick (maybe both the teams offered in an attempt to move up) and their second round pick and the Bills rejected it; they probably will still have gotten him at at 13 or 15 too, as he wasn’t predicted to got until MIA at 18 and no one thought that he was on the Bills radar. Despite having a different staff now, the only thing the two staffs have in common is that they take the best player on the board and don’t trade down. Also the Bills have a glaring need at left tackle, even if they deny it; should Kalil still be miraculously still be available at 10, the Bills will rush his name down to the podium instantly.

“tommyf15 says:
Apr 22, 2012 12:17 PM
For everyone saying that this is a smoke screen-

1. Greg Cossell doesn’t work for the Vikings or any NFL team!

2. Minnesota can have anyone they want outside of Luck and RG3. They don’t need to smokescreen.

=================================

All teams “smokescreen” It’s always been a part of the draft process. The Vikes might be throwing a smokescreen trying to entice another team to trade up to their slot for a boatload of later picks.”

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If they were to be throwing a smoke screen, it might be in their best interest to say that they are taking him to coerce a team to trade up for him. Actually it would be better if they were to imply that they could take any of the four people that would be considered good enough for that spot and tell all of the teams 4-6, or the most gullible, to trade up to get who they want or they won’t have the chance to take him.

If Kalil falls to six, the Rams would be straight stupid to pass him up.

ugk612 says:Apr 22, 2012 7:39 PM

Kinfish4242, I am with you all the way about that BCS Championship, Bama didn’t dare look Claiborne’s way!
I’ve been saying for months the Vikes should draft Claiborne and I am a Vikes fan for the record.

clifforday says:Apr 22, 2012 8:21 PM

No way the kid from Servite HS goes to MN at 3. I’ve never thought that. He’s way over-rated.

Look for MN to take Richardson, who is the real deal, and will replace Peterson, who is on his last legs.

Gotta get the value at 3, not need.

wiseguy12 says:Apr 22, 2012 8:30 PM

Drafting Kali will make Ponder better not only by providing much needed pass protection. It will allow Johson to move to guard where is better suited. Kali at left tackle will make the offense better. Contributions by cornerbacks and wide receivers are pretty much limited to passing plays.